DICE will release a new patch for Battlefield 3 on December 6, a 2 GB update with a number of changes and fixes and data for the new Back to Karkand DLC (thanks Computer and Video Games). Here's the lengthy change list from Battlelog:

Bugfixes

Fixed a problem with spawn timer now showing blue border on startup and lost spawn point

Fixed a problem where player who joined queuing on End of round got spawn screen stuck on screen, but unable to do anything with it untill next round loaded

Fixed a problem where camera would change to 3rd person on killcam when killcam was turned off in server settings

Fixed stat references on several dogtags

Fixed for surveillance ribbon not counting TUGS

Fixed a missing combat area lines on the minimap for Grand Bazaar conquest small

Moved a tank spawn in US base on Caspian Border so it would not be destroyed by a falling tree

Fixed a problem where placing C4 with the russians soldier was playing US faction VO

Fixed a problem where TV guided missiles could be shot into its own helicopter and destroy it

Fixed a problem when attempting to fire lock on weapons without a target

Tweaked the chat, it should now be a bit easier to read

Fixed several vehicles that did not properly shoot rockets and guns towards their predictive sights

Fixed the G17 Supressed Laser not working properly

Added alternate HUD colors to help colorblinds

Added a network interpolation setting. This allows users with good bandwidth reduce latency, but might increase some stuttering. The user can find what works best for his connection by tweaking the slider.

Increased the Spawn protection radius on TDM

Fixed a problem with smoke on land vehicles, Missiles should now miss more often

Fixed a problem where users could end up with IRNV scope in any vehicle

Fixed a problem where player dies if vaulting over a ledge and into water while sprinting

Fixed several crashes and increased general stability

Fixed a problem where the user was unable to revive two players that have the bodies one over the other

Fixed so you can assign an axis and use as a digital input. This makes it possible for the player (on pc) to assign one of the sticks on a gameped to be used for throttle/brake.

Fixed a problem with the Kill camera acting up when suiciding from parachute

Fixed air radar was showing to much. now lasertagged, heatsignature above threshold, enemy missiles and capture points are only visible on air radar

Fixed a problem where the game would enter a technical hang if the user pressed pause menu and tilde at the same time

Fixed a problem where you could get green flashes on screen

You can now reassign cycle weapons

Fixed so the weapon zooms automatically after bipod deploy is gone when using zoom toggle

Fixed a problem where the parachute would stay stuck in air if the owner was killed

Balance Tweaks

Fixed several weapons so they are properly suppressed and hide the player on the minimap when fired.

Moved a tank spawn in US base on Caspian Border so it would not be destroyed by a falling tree

Tweaked the Gas station Capture area on Conquest on Caspian Border

Tweaked the max vehicle height on Noshahar Canals

Min player requirements

Also, it will once again be possible to reduce the number of players required to start a round to 1 both in ranked and unranked mode. We changed it back after getting a lot of negative feedback from both individuals and the RSP companies.

Our plan is to introduce a warm-up mode, where players can move about and play the game, but with scoring disabled; then, when the number of players goes above the threshold -- that's when the real round starts.

Matshock wrote on Dec 5, 2011, 13:29:I'm someone who despises MMOs and other "play a 100 hours or you're not allowed to be good" games- I have to admit BF3 is somewhere in the middle. After a little less than 20 hours in I have the SCAR H with some goodies, enough goodies for the M249 to make it work and the mortar for points grinding. I broke 2000 points a round instantly after getting the mortar.

Most mechanics-changing unlocks come pretty early compared to past BF games and especially compared to MMOs and the like.

They're going to nerf the silly ones in this patch so there will be even less to complain about.

We're talking about two different things here. You're talking about acquiring unlocks, I'm talking about their relative measure versus others. It is totally possible to acquire unlocks but grinding out points isn't the goal of the game, the goal of the game is to win and the current unlock system (even without the silly attachments) creates an inherent imbalance without even taking skill sets and other variables into account.

A good team using voicecomms without advanced unlocks is still a potent force but putting them up against an equally skilled team with better unlocks (AGM, CITV, etc) I'd guess that the former rarely wins. Does make the game unplayable? No but it can certainly make for a frustrating affair if you play outside of clans regularly.

I think they could have easily made some design concessions to keep things a bit more level. For example, why does everyone have to unlock each attachment separately for every gun? Why does an LMG get a suppressor? Some of the vehicle unlocks are head scratchers as well.

Don't me wrong, I like BF3. At it's core there is a good game in there but it's a bit of a mess right now and I think they aren't doing new players to the franchise any favors.

Agreed- but where my post intersected with your idea is this: it won't take very long before nearly everyone playing has all the important unlocks that they want.

I.E. I don't want the AGM because after cutting my teeth in WWII sims and moving on to Falcon 4 flying a go-plane in BF3 is boring and frustrating.

If you want to pick at specific unlocks as being problems there's stil some headroom for that sure.

I am curious to see what kind of game BF3 becomes once everyone has their mid-level unlocks. Things will get much harder for the point whores in the near future I bet.c